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Yeah, I know I should know better, but sometimes hopeful optimism takes over. Like yesterday. I was out having lunch with Peter and saw Caesar Salad on the menu, saying it was made with the restaurant’s own char-grilled chicken. Now I know that chicken isn’t a traditional ingredient in this salad, but I also know that this restaurant has a nice char-grill, so what the heck. And well, as I say, I should have known better.
I had even joked with the waiter that I wasn’t actually expecting a proper Caesar salad, saying that in all my years in Sevilla I’d never had a decent one (other than at home). But I was at least hoping for a nice crisp green salad with freshly grilled chicken and a “caesar-ish” dressing. Nope. What arrived was a plate of bagged mixed greens, some tiny hard croutons, parmesan, and chunks of tired chicken tasting of fridge. So as usually happens in these cases, Peter ate it. 😉
Later on I jokingly put a post up on Instagram saying I should give a master class to chefs in Sevilla who offer Caesar salad on their menu, and apparently ruffled some feathers. Suddenly I was “insulting” chefs, blah blah… who did I think I was, etc.
My point is… if you want to offer a mixed green salad with chicken and parmesan on your menu, go right ahead. Just don’t call it a Caesar salad.
One of the hazards of being a high profile Queen of Tapas and sherry educator is that just when you thought you might get an actual day off you get invited to go out and eat and drink fine food and wines. 😉 This week’s guilty parties were winemakers Finca Allende, and hosts and food pairing providers for their cata (tasting), Abades Triana restaurant.
The cata itself was conducted by Miguel Ángel de Gregorio of Finca Allende. They are a fairly small bodega from Briones in the Rioja Alta, and it was interesting to learn something more about this wine region. Miguel Ángel, who is clearly passionate about his wines, first arrived in Briones in 1986, and considered the climate, and especially the land, as ideal for the kind of terroire driven wines that he wanted to make.
We tried six different wines, two white and four red, each made with grapes from specific parcels of land, and which paired very nicely with a menu that progressed from a soup starter (salmorejo), through a tartar of urta (fish), a pluma Iberica, and beef to a chocolate mousse dessert. Exquisite.
I kind of hit the ground running after getting back from my London Getaway. I had already planned to get together with 
It was a fabulous evening. Fran is a native New Yorker who now lives in Tokyo with her husband Kaz. Aside from being film producers and art lovers, they are both also food & wine lovers, and as usual Sevilla worked its magic on them. By the end of the evening we had all become fast friends and F & K were already talking about planning a return visit to Andalucía. Come back soon! xx
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casa azahar 